Watchmakers have always tried to battle the effects of gravity on a timepiece’s balance assembly. The well-known tourbillon has, to date, been the de facto solution to this problem and we’ve seen multi-axis tourbillons, flying tourbillons, and double tourbillons. At SIHH this week, Roger Dubuis, the avant garde Geneva watch brand, has introduced an effective alternative to the tourbillon, and it’s a world first – a watch movement with four sprung balances.

Called the Quatuor and introduced in the company’s Excalibur case, the movement’s balances are paired, two and two, and positioned at 90 degree angles to one another, linked by differentials. Each balance operates at 4 Hz, adding up to 16 oscillations per second. By distributing the effects of gravity across the four balances, these effects are negated, thus resulting in a more consistent timekeeping rate. All the technical detail aside, the movement is quite stunning to behold and the sound of four balances ticking brings to mind a field of locusts (in a good way).

This revolutionary movement is housed inside a thick 48-millimeter gold case that is, as you might imagine, quite heavy. Eight of these pieces will be made and sold at a price of 380,000 Swiss francs. If that’s not exclusive enough for you, Roger Dubuis is also producing a limited series of three Excalibur Quatuors with a case made of silicon (another world first), which lightens the weight of the watch and your wallet, at a price of 1,000,000 Swiss francs.